Lawro On Fence - Mystic Struggling With Optimism

The BBC pundit told BBC Sport that he thinks Villa v Norwich will end up 1-1.

He points out that Lambert could well be in for some stick from Norwich fans but that the Villa boss has other things more pressing to worry about, like getting some points!

He said: "I am a little surprised that they are not playing more like Norwich did under Lambert last season, when the Canaries had a go at teams - they attacked using width, played two strikers up front and did not have any problems scoring goals. When Villa's coaching staff do their post-match video analysis, they must sit there and realise they do not create enough chances."

Does seem strange and our Vital Norwich editor pointed out the same in his interview with Vital Villa: Click Here

Savvy said: "I can't work out why he's not being more gung-ho, seems reluctant to play Bent/Benteke together, and he's not playing the expansive football that he did when he was our manager. I think he'll do alright but you'll need to stay with him and be patient. Lambert is an excellent manager, you want to keep hold of him for as long as you can. You've got some good players, but it's not really happening at the moment. It will, but hopefully not on Saturday afternoon."

Lawro added "You look at them and think they are going to be in the bottom six all season and, if they have a bad end to the season, they are going to get relegated."

I also think Lawro is spot on when he says we should play Darren Bent and Christian Benteke up front together. I am also shocked at the lack of width. The odd time we go to the by-line and cross it, we look good.

Mystic Mug is fed up of trying to be positive but says he is going to give it one more go! Looking at Norwich on the road, they don`t look particularly strong, albeit to be fair they have played pretty difficult oppo. But for the last time unless they don`t let him down, Mystic says 1-0 to the mighty Villa.

Comments

Think one of the reasons we dont play with width is we dont have two wingers ! Albrighton yes agreed but I do not believe Nzobia ever plays as a real winger,thinking back to his Wigan highlights he tended to beat men in the final third to score not to cross the ball. Anyway more to the point 2-1 to Villa.

We really need three points to take some pressure off the team... I agree with Merlin we dont have two wingers and as I have said previously we need to buy a LM as I think Albie could have a good season... Nzog is an Inside Forward he prefers to play on the Right and cut in... We are in for a tough Xmas if we dont win 2mo but I think we will PL will make sure this is one game he must win...

he did have the whole summer to try to bring in wingers Merlin, although I must admit I think if he can stay fit and get a run in the team, Albrighton is a good winger and who knows, in his right position, Zoggy MIGHT (ahem) remember how to play football?

DB9 thrives on service from the wings, The fact that there aren't any decent crossers/wingers probably has a lot to do with his problems of late. Wish someone at Villa could try and think outside the box. In football terms literally and figuratively!!!

Plenty of teams now play without wingers these days (Brazil, Spain to name but two) - its kind of in vogue. The service can come from anywhere - our problem is not lack of wingers, its lack of service, period. It should be coming from Holman and/or Ireland, plus one other "attacking midfielder". Remember - that midfield used to contain Milner, Young and Downing. So the problem is - with two up front, who else do you play in the middle. KEA plus Delph means that you need to go with five otherwise you don't have enough width. If you add in Marc then you can only play a lone striker. My view is that Nsomnia is a write off - the game time he has been getting would be better off in the hands of Marc. So in a nutshell - our midfield is not strong enough yet to go 4-4-2. If we play 4-5-1 the extra guy needs to have an attacking head on him eg Weimann, or Marc. We have seen that Gabby does not thrive in that role.

"Has a lot to do with his problems of late". In other words, he relies on everyone else and is incapable of creating chances for himself, taking defenders on, (in fact I'd go as far as to say incapable of touching the ball more than once in any move) and a liability.